Notes and Editorial Reviews

There are only 19 songs by Chopin extant; luckily, they fit readily on a compact disc, as in this new collection, with its fine notes, and texts in both Polish and English. The notes to every recording of these songs begin with an apology for their slightness, for the poverty of the texts, as well as a measured encomium for their charms. I’llRead more emphasize their charms. Many are love poems dramatizing the power of a missing loved one (Witchcraft; A Fickle Maid; Remembrance); none sound tragic. Rather these are tuneful, well-executed songs, something like parlor music. Some are more beautiful than others: I will single out the song translated as Faded and Vanished, beautifully sung by Aleksandra Kurzak, for its slow-moving pathos. Of course there is the occasional lively drinking song, put forth vigorously by Mariusz Kwiecien. Given Poland’s history, it is hard not to be affected by the lament Poland’s Dirge, in which the poet sings of villages emptied by war in the hope of uniting a free Poland (“All in vain for freedom / Strove our valiant brothers, / None were left to comfort / Poland’s mourning mothers.”) Chopin for a short stanza indicates the Poles’ fighting spirit with thumping piano chords, but Polish feistiness, as the music soon discovers, went for naught. This recording, made as part of an already distinguished series, is easily recommended: The singing is lovely; the accompaniment by an exceptional Chopin pianist, Nelson Goerner, is what one would expect.